Schumer Against Troops, for Drones in Iraq

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer on Sunday said he opposed sending U.S. troops to Iraq and advocated the use of drone strikes to combat the sectarian violence enveloping the country.

Mr. Schumer, a New York Democrat who voted to authorize military force against Iraq in 2003, said it wasn’t the job of the U.S. to “set up regimes” or “get into nation building.”

“We should not have troops on the ground nor should we get into a decision about who should govern,” Mr. Schumer said, calling for drone strikes instead. “The drones have a very strong ability to figure out who the terrorists are, what they’re doing, how they’re trying to hurt us and stopping [attacks] before they happen.”

Mr. Schumer’s comments came at an unrelated news conference in New York as the Obama administration comes under pressure from lawmakers to contain the violence in Iraq.

He also said the civil war in neighboring Syria allowed Sunni militants to “gain the upper hand” against their Shiite counterparts. He believes Iran could now also enter the conflict by coming to the aid of the Shiites.

“The Iranians are probably going to aid the Shiites. We’ll have to see what happens,” Sen. Schumer said.

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